Small Wars Journal

Defense Showstoppers

Sun, 03/08/2009 - 5:49pm
Defense Showstoppers: National Security Challenges for the Obama Administration

Conference summary report by Michael P. Noonan at Foreign Policy Research Institute.

On February 12, 2009, FPRI's Program on National Security held a conference on potential "defense showstoppers" for the Obama administration—critical issues that, if not fixed, could lead to a serious deterioration of American military capabilities. The event was hosted and co-sponsored by the Reserve Officers Association in Washington, D.C. Program-affiliated scholars Michael Horowitz, Michael P. Noonan, Mackubin T. Owens, and Frank G. Hoffman served as panel moderators. More than 100 individuals from academia, government, NGOs, the media, the military, and the public participated in person, and another 300-plus individuals from around the world participated by webcast. Audio and video files of the proceedings are posted at FPRI's website; the papers presented at the conference will be published in Orbis and other outlets.

A summary of the major panel presentations and discussions can be found here and include commentary by T.X. Hammes, Stephen Biddle, Roger Carstens, Frank G. Hoffman, Mackenzie Eaglen, Christopher Preble, James N. Mattis, Michael O'Hanlon, Thomas McNaugher, Frederick W. Kagan, Janine Davidson, Thomas Schweich, Ralph Peters and a conference summation by Harvey Sicherman.

Comments

Thinker (not verified)

Wed, 03/11/2009 - 2:38pm

Mackenzie Eaglen's analysis brings to the forefront an often overlooked defense showstopper: poor or absent messaging of our crucial ideas. Eaglen's lament of disconnect between civilian populations, military and defense leaders on perceived current or future threats points to these communication gap challenges, and I'd assert that such gaps, blocks and diversions can be overcome and enemies defeated if idea messaging is elevated alongside the strategic areas mentioned during the conference.

My thesis is this: we can choose the right role and mission with enough funding and fighting in the right way with the right soldiers on the ground with complete interagency cooperation and still not win to our satisfaction. Paraphrasing Colonel Hammes, Someone is always going to be angry. But through messaged ideas that anger can be channeled.

This is not new ground - wars of ideas and the cultural expression of these ideas continue to preoccupy our country. We can return to Harold Lasswell (1948) for inspiration on aligning people to confront challenges: "In democratic societies, rational choices depend on enlightenment, which in turn depends upon communication; and especially upon the equivalence of attention among leaders, experts, and rank and file."

Contributing a messaging component to the necessary capabilities for fighting current and future enemies can be critical as internal and external foci of attention to create Dewey's Publics, to counteract and intradict propaganda, and create an attractive mythology where globally people's stories lead to rewards in this lifetime, not the next.

Whether the message is specific such as David Kilcullen's "we will protect your civilian populations from enemies", or wholely cultural "pursuing modernization and materialism will make you more satisfied and desireable than 100 heavenly virgins", our messages can make powerful contributions alongside strategy, diplomacy and force.

Much of the surveillance, correlation and transmission messaging mechanism has been laid out over the last 60 years in communication research, and messaging effects is a well studied area within social as well as military science. I appeal to those contemplating war winning pathways to consider messaging not only as a tactic, but as a key strategy.